Oil Shale Mine In Utah Could Set Precedent In The West

Oil shale deposits exist in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, according to a 2012 DOI analysis.

Department of Interior

The nation’s first commercial oil-shale mine could be built here in our region. The Bureau of Land Management issued a decision that allows a mine in Utah’s Uinta Valley to move forward.

Oil shale is an expensive and difficult type of oil to extract, but there’s a lot of it in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. The BLM approved crucial transportation access for the proposed 9,000 acre mine in Utah. If it goes forward, this project could set a precedent for similar mines in the West.

Michael Saul is with the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit that opposes the mine. Saul calls this kind of mining “climate suicide."

“This is essentially the filthiest and least efficient form of fossil fuels on the planet,” he says, pointing to the huge amounts of electricity and water that go into oil shale production before it can become useable energy.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.